Wednesday, November 18, 2009

I must admit that I had no knowledge of Rowan Atkinson's (aka Mr. Bean) Blackadder series. Set in Britain in the Middle Ages, the show follows the exploits of the foppish, foolish, conniving Prince Edmund (Atkinson). It's a silly send-up of British history done soap opera-style--instead of a costume drama you've got a costume comedy.

I adore the Monty Python series and movies--and Blackadder is reminiscent of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, albeit not quite as sharp and witty.

The Ultimate Edition DVD contains all 25 Blackadder episodes from The Blackadder, Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third and The Blackadder Goes Forth plus the three Blackadder specials: Blackadder Back and Forth, Blackadder's Christmas Carol (which is a purely comedic inversion of the Dickens classic...) and Blackadder: The Cavalier Years.